This invention relates to timing devices that are manually settable as to future time, and are provided with suitable displays to advise the user as to the time remaining and with alarms to notify the user when the elapsed time has expired. The invention is particularly adapted for use as a miniaturized electronic reminder that may be readily carried in the hand, pocket, or purse and that is capable of being manually set to provide a warning during and an alarm following a long time interval of days, many days, a year, or even longer.
There is often a need for a "long time" interval reminder, to alert users of an appointment or important event, or periodic function, that may be many days in the future. For example, persons often need to be reminded of the ordinary long term future appointment dates with doctors and dentists, or of periodic preventive health care as recommended in the field of cancer, as well as of special events including important social events and other activities of a non-recurring nature.
Additionally, in the fields of business and the professions, it is often customary for the user to maintain a written time log or diary for recording future appointments and business events yet in the rush and press of business matters, the user sometimes neglects to consult his log and is embarrassed by failure to prepare sufficiently for and to attend to an important duty or function.
Although many watches, clocks, desk timers and the like are provided with settable alarms, such devices generally operate only within a short twenty-four hour, one day, time interval, and are therefore not useful for long term time reminder purposes that may extend to many days in the future. Such devices also generally do not display a countdown sequence.